Deuteronomy 14
1 Ye are the children of the Lord your God: ye shall not make any baldness between you eyes for the dead.
You are the children of the Lord your God. Don't mutilate yourselves or shave your forehead like pagans do when they mourn the dead,
2 For thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God, and the Lord thy God has chosen thee to be a peculiar people to himself of all the nations on the face of the earth.
because you are a holy people who belong to the Lord your God. The Lord chose you as his special people out of all the nations on earth.
3 Ye shall not eat any abominable thing.
You must not eat anything repulsive.
4 These [are] the beasts which ye shall eat; the calf of the herd, and lamb of the sheep, and kid of the goats;
These are the animals that you are allowed to eat: cattle, sheep, goats,
5 the stag, and doe, and pygarg, and wild goat, and camelopard.
deer, gazelles, wild goats, antelopes, and mountain sheep.
6 Every beast that divides the hoofs, and makes claws of two divisions, and that chews the cud among beasts, these ye shall eat.
You can eat any animal that both has a divided hoof and also chews the cud.
7 And these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, and of those that divide the hoofs, and make distinct claws; the camel, and the hare, and the rabbit; because they chew the cud, and do not divide the hoof, these are unclean to you.
But you are not allowed to eat those that either chew the cud or have a divided hoof. This includes: camels, rabbits, and rock hyraxes. Even though they chew the cud, they don't have a divided hoof. You must treat them as unclean.
8 And as for the swine, because he divides the hoof, and makes claws of the hoof, yet he chews not the cud, he is unclean to you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, ye shall not touch their dead bodies.
The same applies to the pig. Even though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. So you must treat it as unclean. You must not eat its meat or touch its dead body.
9 And these ye shall eat of all that are in the water, ye shall eat all that have fins and scales.
When it comes to creatures that live in the water, you are allowed to eat anything that has fins and scales.
10 And all that have not fins and scales ye shall not eat; they are unclean to you.
But you must not eat anything that does not have fins and scales. You must treat them as unclean.
11 Ye shall eat every clean bird.
You are allowed to eat any clean bird.
12 And these of them ye shall not eat; the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle,
But you must not eat the following: eagle, griffon vulture, bearded vulture,
13 and the vulture, and the kite and the like to it,
buzzard, kites, any kind of falcon,
any member of the crow family,
15 and the sparrow, and the owl, and the seamew,
tawny owl, long-eared owl, gulls, any kind of hawk,
16 and the heron, and the swan, and the stork,
little owl, eagle owl, barn owl,
17 and the cormorant, and the hawk, and its like, and the hoopoe, and the raven,
desert owl, Egyptian vulture, fish owl,
18 and the pelican, and the diver and the like to it, and the red-bill and the bat.
storks, any kind of heron, hoopoe, or bats.
19 All winged animals that creep are unclean to you; ye shall not eat of them.
All insects that fly are unclean to you; you must not eat them.
20 Ye shall eat every clean bird.
But you are allowed to eat any clean animal that has wings.
21 Ye shall eat nothing that dies of itself; it shall be given to the sojourner in thy cities and he shall eat it, or thou shalt sell it to a stranger, because thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not boil a lamb in his mother's milk.
You must not eat any animal that dies. You can give it to a foreigner in your town, and they can eat it, or you can sell it to a foreigner. You, however, are a holy people who belong to the Lord your God. Don't cook a young goat in its mother's milk.
22 Thou shalt tithe a tenth of all the produce of thy seed, the fruit of thy field year by year.
Make sure you pay a tithe of every crop grown each year in your fields.
23 And thou shalt eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to have his name called there; ye shall bring the tithe of thy corn and of thy wine, and of thine oil, the first-born of thy herd and of thy flock, that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.
You are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks, in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose to live with you, so that you will learn to always respect the Lord your God.
24 And if the journey be too far for thee, and thou art not able to bring them, because the place [is] far from thee which the Lord thy God shall choose to have his name called there, because the Lord thy God will bless thee;
However, if it's too far to carry all the tithe that the Lord your God has blessed you with, because the place where the Lord your God will choose to live with you is too distant,
25 then thou shalt sell them for money, and thou shalt take the money in thy hands, and thou shalt go to the place which the Lord thy God shall choose.
then you can exchange it for money, take the money with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose.
26 And thou shalt give the money for whatsoever thy soul shall desire, for oxen or for sheep, or for wine, or [thou shalt lay it out] on strong drink, or on whatsoever thy soul may desire, and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice and thy house,
Then you can spend the money on anything you like—cattle, sheep, wine, alcoholic drink, or anything else you want. Then you can have a feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and celebrate with your family.
27 and the Levite that is in thy cities, because he has not a portion or inheritance with thee.
Don't forget to take care of the Levites in your town, because they don't have any share in the allotment of land.
28 After three years thou shalt bring out all the tithes of thy fruits, in that year thou shalt lay it up in thy cities.
At the end of every third year, collect a tenth of all your produce for that year and store it in your town.
29 And the Levite shall come, because he has no part or lot with thee, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow which is in thy cities; and they shall eat and be filled, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works which thou shalt do.
This way the Levites (who don't have any share in the allotment of land), the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows in your town will be provided with what they need. The Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
